Did I Mention I Won The Lottery? (25 page)

Aimlessly she
parked the car and wandered around the shops. She was in the home
ware department of Debenhams, looking with listless eyes at the new
summer stock spread across the shelves. It would soon be warm
enough to sit in the garden. The little courtyard just outside the
kitchen doors would be a perfect place to sit with a coffee in the
afternoon or a croissant in the morning. She needed to organise the
gardener, get the trees and shrubs tidied up. She had meant to
phone the telephone number the previous owners had left her and ask
their old gardener to come back. She had meant to look for some
lovely wooden garden furniture and perhaps a great big gas BBQ like
you the ones you saw on American TV, the sort that could cater for
the masses. She had meant to do lots of things really but it was
amazing how time consuming her daily battles with Daniel were and
how totally exhausted they left her.

She was
admiring some fresh picnic ware that would look lovely on the table
in the courtyard when she looked up to find a young woman staring
at her.

It took a
moment to place her but then the frown on Rebecca’s face cleared
and she smiled.

‘Holly! I’m
sorry, I didn’t recognise you for a minute.’

She stepped
away from the display table and walked towards the young woman who
was holding the hand of a small girl with masses of blonde curly
hair whilst pushing a buggy containing a sleeping baby.

Rebecca stopped
uncertainly, if she hadn’t known better she would say that Holly
was staring at her with nothing less than hatred in her eyes. They
had only met a few times. She was the pretty young wife of Joshua
who worked at White’s and had been given the job Daniel thought of
as his own. They had sat next to each other at the last Christmas
party and had spent the evening having a wonderful conversation
about children as Holly stroked the huge bump where her second
child still lay.

‘I heard that
you’d had a little boy.’ Rebecca leaned forward to peer into the
buggy and Holly drew back as though she had been stung.

Rebecca stared
at her in confusion. ‘I’m sorry,’ she offered, ‘I was just looking…
he’s beautiful.’

Holly nodded
tightly and turned the buggy around and set off in the direction of
the door.

Rebecca watched
her with her mouth hanging open. What on earth had happened? She
watched Holly walk stiffly around the displays and then just as she
reached the door Rebecca couldn’t take any more.

‘Holly!’ she
shouted and sprinted after her. Holly didn’t stop and Rebecca had
to move quickly to reach her before she disappeared into the
crowds. ‘Holly!’ She grabbed at the young woman’s arm only to let
go immediately as Holly turned swung around, undiluted hatred
filling her face.

‘Oh my God
Holly, what on earth has happened?’

‘Happened?’
spat Holly. ‘You can really stand there and ask what’s
happened?’

Rebecca looked
around. Holly’s voice was far from quiet and their exchange was
bringing a few interested glances. But she didn’t care.

‘Holly,’ she
pressed gently, ‘please tell me what’s wrong.’

Holly took a
step back, her eyes flicking over Rebecca with a look of such
contempt that Rebecca couldn’t help but blush.

‘You look well
Rebecca. Winning millions obviously suits you.’

Rebecca frowned
shaking her head. ‘You’re angry because I’ve won some money?’ she
asked disbelievingly.

‘No!’ ground
out Holly. ‘I couldn’t care less what you do or how much you’ve
won. But what right do you have to ruin other people’s lives with
your money? What gives you the right to destroy my life just
because you’ve had some luck?’

Rebecca’s
confusion was written all over her face and for a moment Holly’s
features softened a little.

‘You don’t know
do you?’

‘Know
what?’

‘You have no
idea what Daniel has done.’

At the mention
of her husband’s name Rebecca’s heart dropped like a stone. She had
no idea what Holly was about to say but she had a feeling that she
was not going to like it.

‘Please tell
me,’ she demanded.

Holly closed
her eyes for a brief moment and sighed as she opened them to meet
Rebecca’s anxious gaze.

‘He’s been into
White’s. He went in to tell them all that he was buying the
place.’

Rebecca nodded.
It wasn’t a secret and although she would have waited until the
deal had completed she could see that wasn’t Daniel’s style. He
would have wanted them all to know what he was planning.

‘He went around
the room,’ continued Holly, her face hardening again. ‘He gave each
person a slip of paper. They all had one word written on them.
Going. Staying.’

Rebecca’s heart
was hammering, her face was flushed and her breath ragged.

‘Then he
laughed and told them that when he was in charge that’s what would
be happening to them. Josh’s paper said going. Daniel told him that
he was the person he would enjoy sacking the most.’

Rebecca felt
sick, she clutched her throat as she felt the bile rise.

‘Josh had to
come home and tell me that he was losing his job because Daniel
Miles had won the lottery. Daniel was so angry with Josh for being
promoted that he was going to buy the business just so he could
sack Josh.’

Rebecca was
shaking. She truly wondered if her legs would carry on supporting
her. She was shaking with shame and humiliation.

‘Is that fair?’
demanded Holly. ‘Is it fair that you winning can leave us with
nothing?’

Rebecca
couldn’t speak. There were tears rolling down her face as she shook
her head.

‘I’m so sorry,’
she whispered her lips hardly able to form the words. ‘I’m so, so
sorry,’ and turning her back she fled.

She ran through
the people, knocking them out of her way, uncaring of the shouts
and the swearing. She pushed her way up the stairs towards the car
park hardly able to breathe for the sobs that racked her body and
when she finally made it to her car she sat inside for almost an
hour crying as though her heart would break.

How could he do
such a wicked thing she wondered. The Daniel she knew would never
be so outrageously callous, so cruel. What on earth had happened to
him over the last few years to make him so hard, so uncaring. Was
it her? Had she made the monster he was now?

Eventually the
tears stopped and she calmed down enough to think about driving the
car. Her hands still trembled but only slightly and the tears had
left her eyes enough for her to see ahead.

She thought
about driving home and realised that she didn’t want to go back to
her beautiful house. She had been so happy there for those few
short weeks before Daniel joined her. But now it was just another
battle ground. The joy of her home had disappeared within hours of
Daniel arriving.

Briefly she
considered booking into Quebecs. But that was more avoidance and
that was exactly what had brought her to this situation in the
first place. If she had been honest with Daniel right from the
beginning, maybe things would never have come to this.

Sighing she
left the car park and turned the little Fiat in the direction of
home. The relief she felt when she drove up the long drive to find
it empty was immense. She didn’t know where Daniel was but at least
he wasn’t here. She parked the car and walked into the lovely light
filled hallway, her eyes falling on the curt note left on the hall
table.

GOLF, it said.
BACK TOMORROW.

Her heart
lifted. A whole night without him, a night in her beautiful home
without another argument. She hung up her coat and turned on the
coffee machine as her mobile started to ring.

‘Rebecca?’

It was Richard
Dickinson from the bank.

Rebecca smiled.
‘Hello Richard.’

‘Er, I just
thought that you should know Rebecca. Not that there’s anything to
worry about, we obviously don’t take any instruction from anyone
but you, but you should know…’

Rebecca
frowned, it was unlike Richard not to come straight to the
point.

‘What is it
Richard?’ she asked gently.

‘Daniel,’ he
said bluntly.

Rebecca’s heart
sank. ‘What has he done?’

‘He came to the
bank today, insisted on seeing me and demanded that the trust funds
for the children be stopped. He said that you had had second
thoughts and wanted to allocate much lower amounts. He wanted a new
fund drawing up.’

There was a
long silence.

‘Rebecca, I
just thought that you should know. If that’s what you want then of
course it’s no problem but you know that I won’t take any
instruction about this account from anyone but yourself.’

Another long
silence.

‘Rebecca?’

‘Sorry, yes I’m
here.’

Rebecca was
numb with shock, struggling to speak.

‘Thank you for
letting me know Richard. The trust…’

‘Is exactly as
we agreed the last time you were in the office. In fact the paper
work is now ready to sign...whenever you’re ready.’

Rebecca nodded
then realised he couldn’t see her.

‘Thank you.
I’ll speak to you soon,’ and she hung up placing the phone
carefully on the kitchen table. Sitting down with a bump she stared
at her hands. They hadn’t stopped shaking fully after her meeting
with Holly earlier and now they trembled again as she wound her
fingers together and rested them on the table.

How could
Daniel do that to his own children. How could he put White’s and
his need for revenge above everybody and everything else. To be so
cruel to White’s employees, people he had worked alongside for
years. To try and stop his children benefiting from their good
fortune.

Rebecca shook
her head, the tears falling silently down her cheeks. It was time
to stop this. It was time to take control.

Rebecca slept
fitfully. She had spent the evening on the settee in the living
room. The weather was much warmer but Rebecca found herself
shivering as she curled up, pulling the red throw over her for
comfort as much as anything else. She hadn’t had the heart to
choose a DVD or read a book. The TV stayed off and she spent the
evening simply staring out of the window at the ever darkening
garden until it was pitch black both outside and in. Eventually she
went upstairs to bed and lay there staring at the ceiling, her
heart so heavy that it was a pain in her chest.

Morning came
and a subdued Rebecca showered and dressed, going through all the
motions mechanically, her mind whirling with the previous day’s
knowledge. She ate her breakfast without tasting anything and
cleared away before getting into her car and setting off to
Parklands.

The difference
in the atmosphere was unbelievable. There was an overwhelming air
of despair that hit Rebecca as soon as she entered the lobby. The
soft sound of sobs echoed down the hall with muted voices coming
from the TV lounge.

Rebecca walked
through, looking around for Gwen. She was sitting near the French
window, clutching Dotty’s hand in her own as they both gazed out of
the window in silence.

‘Hi Mum.’

Leaning down
Rebecca kissed her mother’s paper thin cheek and noticed again that
Gwen had definitely lost some badly needed weight.

‘Dotty,’ she
said gently stroking the back of the elderly woman’s hand. There
was no response. There had been little response from Dotty since
she’d been told she had to leave Parklands.

Rebecca sat
down next to the two women, smiling reassuringly at them.

‘Don’t worry
Mum,’ she said with a grin. ‘It’s all going to be alright.’

Gwen for once
had no bright smile to give back.

‘I don’t think
so Rebecca my darling, I really don’t think so.’

Rebecca patted
the back of her hand. ‘I’ve told you, don’t worry. Now, where is
Mrs Wendover?’

She looked
around, the TV lounge was quite full, many of the residents
gathering together in their grief. Ruby was sitting next to one
weeping woman, patting her back and talking to her in a soothing
voice. Then Rebecca noticed Mrs Wendover, crossing the lobby and
heading into her office.

‘I’ll be back
in a minute Mum,’ she whispered and shot off.

‘Sorry Brenda.
Can I have a minute?’

Brenda Wendover
looked nothing short of exhausted. And desperate.

‘Oh Rebecca.
I’m really busy, will it wait my dear?’

Rebecca smiled
as she took Mrs Wendover’s arm. ‘I’m afraid it won’t Brenda,’ she
said firmly. ‘It won’t wait a minute longer.’

Moving
decisively she steered the slightly shocked woman into her office
and settled her behind her desk.

‘What on
earth…’

‘Mrs Wendover,
Brenda, do you have any brandy?’

Brenda’s eyes
came out on stalks. ‘Brandy?’

‘Yes.
Brandy.’

The two women
stared at each other for a few minutes until shaking her head in
confusion Brenda waved in the direction of the filing cabinet.

‘Top drawer.
Often need it when I’m breaking bad news. Good for shock.’

Rebecca
grinned. ‘I know,’ she said as she rescued the bottle and glasses
from the shelf above. She poured two generous measures and put one
of the glasses in front of Brenda.

‘Rebecca
I…’

‘Brenda, I have
some very good news for you,’ she smiled at the wary woman.

‘You have? Oh,
have you found somewhere for Gwen already?’

‘I certainly
have,’ Rebecca just couldn’t help the grin that split her face. ‘An
absolutely fantastic place, a lovely setting, great location,
beautiful old building, wonderful staff.’

Was it her
imagination or did Brenda look a teeny bit put out. ‘Well that’s
wonderful Rebecca, I’m so pleased for Gwen.’

‘Don’t you want
to know where it is?’ teased Rebecca.